What Trump's election could mean for student debt in Washington
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President-elect Trump could do away with his predecessor's yearslong efforts to erase student debt, which could affect hundreds of thousands of borrowers in Washington state.
The big picture: Trump has repeatedly bashed the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness plans but has not said how he would handle the mounting debt in another White House term.
- The president-elect has also vowed to dismantle the Department of Education, which is the loan holder for most federal student loans.
- The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to Axios' request for information on the president-elect's plans for the department or for student loan relief.
By the numbers: About 780,000 people in Washington have federal student loan debt, according to the Department of Education.
- Together, those borrowers owe nearly $29 billion in federal student loans, the agency reports. That's an average of about $36,800 per borrower.
Catch up quick: After the conservative-majority Supreme Court blocked Biden's signature student loan forgiveness plan last year, his administration still found ways to deliver relief to some borrowers by circumventing the need for Congressional or court approval.
- The president used the Department of Education's existing authority to provide more than $168 billion in relief to more than 4.7 million borrowers since 2021.
Yes, but: The next Trump administration could roll back the efforts through similar regulatory changes.
What they're saying: "The future of student loan debt forgiveness may be in jeopardy with an incoming Trump administration, which may be unlikely to appeal rulings in the ongoing lawsuits targeting the [Saving on a Valuable Education] plan and Biden's Plan B," NerdWallet lending expert Kate Wood told Axios.
- On the other hand, Wood said, plans created by Congress, like Public Service Loan Forgiveness, "could be tougher to eliminate but could also be made less accessible."
Zoom out: Republican-led states have sought to undercut Biden's efforts by filing lawsuits to block relief initiatives and income-driven repayment plans like SAVE, which is currently blocked amid a legal battle.
- The president unveiled a new forgiveness plan this spring, which is also facing legal challenges in a GOP-backed push.
Go deeper: Biden's brief win in battle for student loan forgiveness scuttled in court